Mizzou Gymnastics Heads to Oklahoma in Search of Big 12 Title
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March 27, 2008 Meet Notes | 2008 Stats | Live Scores
Columbia, Mo. - As the regular season comes to an end, the No.18 Missouri Gymnastics team has set its sights on the Big 12 Championships this Saturday in Norman, Okla. at 7:00 p.m. (CT). The Tigers are in search of the schools first ever Big 12 title in gymnastics while juniors Adrianne Perry (Columbia, Mo.) and Alicia Hatcher (Blue Springs, Mo.) will look to repeat as All-Big 12 performers. Perry earned the honors in the all-around and on vault and bars while Hatcher earned the honor on bars. The Tigers compiled a 10-5 regular season record with all five of their losses coming against teams that currently rank in the top 16, and two in the top 10. The Tigers will look to reverse those fortunes this weekend as both Oklahoma and Nebraska enter the Big 12 Championships ranked in the top 15. Oklahoma boasts the ninth best regional qualifying score while Nebraska comes in at 15th. Perry has been the Tigers top gymnast over the past six weeks, claiming five of her six all-around titles during that stretch. Perry has a season high of 39.450 in the all-around and tallied a 39.375 last Friday against Arizona State, making her one of the favorites to take home Big 12 Gymnast of the Year, announced at the Big 12 Championships on Saturday. Perry is coming off of a clutch performance against ASU. Needing a 9.800 in the Tigers final routine to tie the Sun Devils, Perry tied her career best on floor as she notched a 9.925, solidifying the Tiger victory. Perry has also topped two of the three best all-arounders in the Big 12 this season, Kiara Redmond-Sturms of Oklahoma and Nikki Dilbert of Iowa State. Redmond-Sturms currently ranks second in the nation in the all-around. Perry will look to top both of them, along with Nebraska's Emily Parsons to take home the all-around title this season. Aside from Perry being one of the favorites to take home Big 12 accolades, transfer Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) is the odds on favorite to take home Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Shire currently ranks 36th in the nation in the all-around and has snagged 19 event titles in her first year as a Tiger. Shire has also set or tied career highs on all four events and in the all-around. Shire was also the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week after posting a 39.500 against Centenary. As the Tigers switch gears to the postseason, they have their sights set on two things, a Big 12 Championship and a top-two finish at Regionals, a spot that would qualify them for the NCAA Championships. The road to those goals begins this weekend as they face the daunting task of topping some of the nation's elite programs. Host school Oklahoma comes in with the only unblemished record in the nation this season at 18-0. The Sooners beat all three Big 12 schools in the regular season and will look for the sweep on Saturday in front of their home town fans. The Sooners needed their best beam routine of the season to squeak by the Tigers back in February, but were able to pull out the 196.075 - 195.750 victory. Nebraska, last years champion, enters the meet ranked 14th in the nation and has a league best 8 titles since the leagues creation in 1997. Parsons, a nine-time All-American, will try to help the Huskers claim their ninth against some of the best competition that the league has ever seen. Iowa State ranks second in the Big 12 with two league championships, but has not won since 2006, the last year KJ Kindler coached the Cyclones. Kindler is now the head coach for Oklahoma. Iowa State is led by all-arounder Nikki Dilbert. Dilbert, currently ranks 47th in the nation in the all-around and has been the most consistent gymnast for the Cyclones all year. Stay tuned to www.mutigers.com for all the latest on Mizzou Gymnastics and for more information on the Big 12 Championship, visit www.big12sports.com.
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